My New Interest

Being a stay-at-home mom is awesome. I love being able to stay with Willow and my stress levels have decreased significantly. Even though I don't get to sleep in, I have the option of staying in my pajamas for a while and playing my with my giggly baby.

But when the housework is mostly done, and Willow is napping--my new addiction is looking around Pinterest. What is Pinterest? It's a website that allows you to collect pictures of things you see around the internet and place them in categories (or, virtual pin boards). It's like marking a website in your favorites or using bookmarks. This can be used in so many ways--and if I was still teaching, I would be having a hay-day with Pinterest! Not only can you "pin" things that you see while surfing, you can also see what all your friends are pinning. From recipes, to craft projects, to home decor and fashion--Pinterest is basically limitless and so much fun!

What do I use Pinterest for? Mostly to "ooh and ahh" at--because I don't really have the freedom to try all the awesome ideas floating around there...either because almost all the furniture in our apartment belongs to our landlord, or because I don't have any of the supplies and wouldn't know where to get them...Still, I collect items of interest when I see them, because I have full faith that someday I will try out those nifty organizing ideas and DIY projects.

Mostly, I can find quite a few do-able recipes on Pinterest. I've been trying out new menu items here and there throughout the week and really enjoying the process of broadening my the scope of what gets created in my kitchen. It's one way that I can still express creativity from day to day.

The other day I saw this one DIY idea on Pinterest that I actually had the supplies for. How surprising! I had a cookie sheet that I can't use because my easy-bake toaster oven is too tiny. I had some colorful paper and magnets...I even had a magnetic notepad that I hadn't used yet. So, this is my little craft endeavor on our Friday-after-Thanksgiving-break!

I have the habit of planning out our meals every week so that we know what to purchase at the stores/markets and to eliminate waste of those things that we buy. Also--it helps me not stress out about what I should make for dinner if I've already thought about it...and it forces me to stay out of those cooking ruts I've mentioned before. So, I can switch out the little tabs under the magnets with different menu items--and I can write ingredients I need for the week on my shopping list...yes.


~julie